The 36th annual Telluride Film Festival has begun! The festival is always over Labor Day Weekend up the gorgeous mountains of Colorado. One of the most breathtakingly beautiful drives you’ll ever take (followed by an almost certain altitude headache for a few hours) puts you elbow to elbow with some of the most talented filmmakers working today.
One thing that is unusual (and, at times, irritating) is that they do NOT announce the festival program until the festival opens. So, you have no idea what (or who) you might be seeing at the festival until you’re actually there. Like Sundance, Telluride appeals to filmmakers because they can do business 
AND have a vacation in a gorgeous place at the same time. The Festival Program for Telluride was released today and you can download it now and see who you could have bumped into.
I am already distressed to see that David Fincher will be honored this year. There are typically three (3) Tributes at Telluride; special programs featuring the works of the honoree AND opportunities to hear them discussed how and why they made the films they did. I love Fincher and notice they’re showing the Director’s Cut of ZODIAC.
They’re also honoring film critic Richard Schickel. And they’ve expanded the animation section.
